{"id":292,"date":"2022-01-12T08:52:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T21:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.sarahjansen.com\/?p=292"},"modified":"2024-06-02T12:37:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T01:37:30","slug":"zine-peek-based-on-a-true-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292","title":{"rendered":"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>This short essay originally appeared in Neuroticarium Volume 1 Issue 3: Memory in 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"memory-is-not-a-recording-device\">Memory is not a recording device<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When we remember things, we don\u2019t just find the right file and press play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It happens like this. Our senses take in information about what\u2019s happening, our brains interpret that information, connect it with information we already have, and decide what\u2019s of the new stuff is worth storing. Our minds file away each new event in relation to memories we already have \u2014 metatagging them with themes and people and times and places and causes and effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this process of contextualising new information, we often end up getting things out of order, associating them with the wrong people, embellishing them or merging them. Then when we explore a memory, we reconstruct it using the interpretation and context we used to store it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, we base our entire senses of the world and who we are upon brain functions that are fundamentally fallible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Baby Brains<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No one has many conscious memories from their earliest years. Baby and little kid brains don\u2019t really make them, so they\u2019re not even there to be accessed by regression hypnosis or whatever. There are a bunch of names for the kind of memory little ones have, but I\u2019m going with \u2018event memory\u2019. It\u2019s tied to things that happen in the moment and once it stops being relevant, it\u2019s forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Types of things someone under about six can remember are procedures and patterns if they happen over and over. They\u2019ll know that sitting at the table means food is coming, to raise their arms when someone\u2019s taking their shirt off, or that if they cry, someone will come to them. They might remember a handful of events or images, but they won\u2019t recall when they happened or why or what happened later as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"construction\">Construction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To remember longer spans of time and how cause and effect works needs what most researchers call \u2018episodic memory\u2019, which starts working around age six. It\u2019s pretty much what most of us call long-term memory. It works by linking event memories and organising them into narratives that lead to an outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What happens is, our brains take a bunch events that may or may not have anything to do with each other, link them together, and decide that all the bits and pieces make sense because they\u2019ve led to a particular conclusion. It\u2019s how we convince ourselves that our lives make sense. It\u2019s why people get confused when bad things happen to good people. It\u2019s why people with no background in science so readily believe they can identify scientific cause and effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because long-term memory is organised around a narrative structure of cause and effect, we feel we need to learn from negative experiences to make our pain worthwhile. If things aren\u2019t working out, it just means we haven\u2019t yet fulfilled our destiny, whereas positive experiences can just be enjoyed, because it means the story has come to its natural conclusion and we\u2019re living happily ever after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"we-are-storytellers\">We are storytellers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Every human culture has a similar tradition of storytelling and mythology. Heroes from different cultures might have different goals and our stories might have different morals, but they all have goals and morals. If a character does something bad (eats forbidden fruit), they will be punished (childbirth hurts, farming is hard).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our instinct for fabricating cause and effect relationships is reflected in the way so many of us process grief and trauma: if X horrible thing hadn\u2019t happened, Y wonderful thing would never have happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is profoundly uncomfortable to have horrible things happen without them giving meaning to the greater narratives of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Endowing our pain with meaning makes it easier to bear. But in truth, sometimes that\u2019s just the way it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"derivative\">Derivative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our instinct is to tell a good story, not an accurate one. Our audiences reward us for taking them on an emotional journey \u2014 making them laugh, cry, feel fear or anger \u2014 not for accuracy. Plus, the more engaging your story, the more it\u2019s likely to be remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We trade accuracy for memorability and humanity lives in a fog of stories based on what actually happened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When we remember things, we don\u2019t just find the right file and press play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[34,35,37,41,53],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-work","tag-memory","tag-mental-health","tag-neuroticarium","tag-psychology","tag-zine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Zine Peek: Based on a True Story - Sarah Jansen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story - Sarah Jansen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When we remember things, we don\u2019t just find the right file and press play.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sarah Jansen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-11T21:52:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-02T01:37:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah Jansen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Jansen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sarah Jansen\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/267863eecbb7b5e6cfee1b03acd6e1f2\"},\"headline\":\"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-11T21:52:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-02T01:37:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292\"},\"wordCount\":726,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Memory\",\"Mental Health\",\"Neuroticarium\",\"Psychology\",\"Zine\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Creative Work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292\",\"name\":\"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story - Sarah Jansen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-11T21:52:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-02T01:37:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg\",\"width\":1450,\"height\":1450,\"caption\":\"Detail from memory bricks illustration from Neuroticarium Issue 3: Memory\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?p=292#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sarah Jansen\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sarah Jansen\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/cropped-cropped-Logo-pink.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/cropped-cropped-Logo-pink.png\",\"width\":2357,\"height\":2361,\"caption\":\"Sarah Jansen\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/267863eecbb7b5e6cfee1b03acd6e1f2\",\"name\":\"Sarah Jansen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/640865c02cb78e9ca37388e2758c7c2ec8fc34b36530dbacb8afa89fb292fdaf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/640865c02cb78e9ca37388e2758c7c2ec8fc34b36530dbacb8afa89fb292fdaf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/640865c02cb78e9ca37388e2758c7c2ec8fc34b36530dbacb8afa89fb292fdaf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sarah Jansen\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sarahjansen.com\\\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story - Sarah Jansen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story - Sarah Jansen","og_description":"When we remember things, we don\u2019t just find the right file and press play.","og_url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292","og_site_name":"Sarah Jansen","article_published_time":"2022-01-11T21:52:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-02T01:37:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1450,"height":1450,"url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sarah Jansen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarah Jansen","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292"},"author":{"name":"Sarah Jansen","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#\/schema\/person\/267863eecbb7b5e6cfee1b03acd6e1f2"},"headline":"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story","datePublished":"2022-01-11T21:52:44+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-02T01:37:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292"},"wordCount":726,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg","keywords":["Memory","Mental Health","Neuroticarium","Psychology","Zine"],"articleSection":["Creative Work"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292","url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292","name":"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story - Sarah Jansen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg","datePublished":"2022-01-11T21:52:44+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-02T01:37:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg","width":1450,"height":1450,"caption":"Detail from memory bricks illustration from Neuroticarium Issue 3: Memory"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?p=292#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zine Peek: Based on a True Story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/","name":"Sarah Jansen","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#organization","name":"Sarah Jansen","url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-cropped-Logo-pink.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-cropped-Logo-pink.png","width":2357,"height":2361,"caption":"Sarah Jansen"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/#\/schema\/person\/267863eecbb7b5e6cfee1b03acd6e1f2","name":"Sarah Jansen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/640865c02cb78e9ca37388e2758c7c2ec8fc34b36530dbacb8afa89fb292fdaf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/640865c02cb78e9ca37388e2758c7c2ec8fc34b36530dbacb8afa89fb292fdaf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/640865c02cb78e9ca37388e2758c7c2ec8fc34b36530dbacb8afa89fb292fdaf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sarah Jansen"},"url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/?author=3"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Detail-from-memory-bricks.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=292"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375,"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions\/375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahjansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}